부산대학교 도서관

Barrientos Island is a small islet in the South Shetland archipelago frequently visited by Antarctic tourists. Collembola were recently used in another study developed in this site to assess the environmental conditions of two paths used by visitors, showing the importance of this soil faunal community. This motivated the realization of the first comprehensive census of Collembola from Barrientos Island. Fifty-six samples were recorded over three seasons, 2011-2013, from eight different substrate types. During the last campaign, 39 soil samples were also taken to analyze different physical, chemical, biological, microbiological, and biochemical variables in order to put into relation all these environmental conditions with abundance and richness of Collembola species. A total of ten species were recorded, all of them previously cited from Antarctica. The native species Cryptopygus antarcticus antarcticus Willem (Collembola: Isotomidae) is the most abundant in the island. Two cosmopolitan species-Hypogastrura viatica (Tullberg) (Hypogastruridae) and Mesaphorura macrochaeta Rusek (Tullbergiidae)-were also identified. Many of the species on this island can be considered as eurytopic, appearing in most of the analyzed substrate types. Collembola distribution was found to be influenced by elevation and, to a lesser extent, by phosphorous content and slope. Other variables that are usually cited in the specialized literature did not significantly influence the Collembola distribution in this island. Our results show that the distribution and abundance of Collembola in Antarctic locations is not directly dependent on a single factor. The environmental characteristics of each studied site will determine what factors are driving the composition and structure of this soil community.
Author(s): Natalia Enríquez [sup.1], Pablo Tejedo [sup.2], Javier Benayas [sup.2], Belén Albertos [sup.3], María José Luciáñez [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) 0000000119578126, grid.5515.4, Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, , [...]